Just as every drop in the ocean matters, the contribution of every member of society, however small, matters when it comes to protecting nature, Deputy Inspector General Visakhapatnam Range Swati Lakra said.
She was the chief guest at an inter-school elocution competition organised by The Hindu in association with ESSAR Foundation at Visakhapatnam Public Library here on Saturday.
“Everyday we need to think and rethink before using plastics and throwing waste. Though the concept appears to be vast, at the micro-level every individual can do something about preserving nature,” she said.
Topic
The topic for the final contest among 10 winners of the preliminary round was ‘protecting our atmosphere for generations to come’.
Professor of Andhra University Department of Journalism and Mass Communication P. Bobby Vardhan and professor of AU Department of Environmental Sciences K. Kameswar Rao were the judges.
Urvish Gehlot of Visakha Valley School got the first prize and K. Sahithi of Siva Sivani Public School the second prize and P. Rohit of VT High School the third prize. Venetia Francis of Kotak Salesian School, Aneesa Tanaz of Bhashyam Public School and V. Harshitha of Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan won consolation prizes.
Points raised
Contestants in the final round spoke about the causes for depletion of ozone layer blaming rising population, deforestation, mass pollution of air, water and atmosphere for it. They also stressed on the need to reduce usage of energy consuming machines, chemicals, plastics and those that contribute to high carbon emission.
Government's role
They said the urge to protect and save mother earth should come from within and added that the government plays a crucial role in spreading awareness.
Head Operations of ESSAR K. Bhaktavatsalam, Head HR and Administration of ESSAR D.S. Varma and Regional General Manager of The Hindu T.V. Suresh were among those present.
